Laura B. Kurtz
Member
Co-Chair, Public Finance
Board of Directors
Overview
Laura Kurtz is the Co-Chair of the firm’s Public Finance practice group and focuses her practice in the area of public and municipal finance representing governments, financial institutions and 501(c)(3) entities. She serves as bond and note counsel in financings involving nonprofits and state and local government issuers, including various types of municipalities, schools and authorities. Laura has represented issuers, borrowers, trustees, underwriters and banks in hundreds of different financing transactions.
Laura also sits on the Board of the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority, the Commonwealth’s largest issuer of municipal debt.
Laura received her Ph.D. in Public Administration from the School of Public Affairs at The Pennsylvania State University. Laura’s academic interests include public budgeting and financial management.
Representative Matters
- Represents public and non-profit entities in issuing tax-exempt and taxable obligations to finance projects.
- Advises and provides analysis on tax-exempt issues to municipal and nonprofit clients including public facilities, utility systems, airports, continuing care retirement communities, higher education institutions and long-term and acute care health facilities.
- Served as bond counsel to a large health care institution, creating a master trust indenture structure and forming an obligated group in order to provide for the issuance of future debt in public and private placements.
- Analyzed complex requirements in existing bond indentures and advised on structuring debt in order to issue additional bonds, drafted intricate bond documents as bond counsel and negotiated a number of amendments to existing interest rate swap agreements in a recent transaction for the largest Commonwealth transportation-related agency.
- Represents underwriters providing guidance on disclosure and securities law issues.
- Serves as lender counsel to local community banks and large financial institutions.
- Serves as counsel in connection with tax-exempt and taxable financings of industrial and commercial economic development projects.
- Knowledgeable in the issuance of all types of debt obligations including general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, special obligation revenue bonds, tax and revenue anticipation notes, and refunding bonds and notes.
- Experienced in federal and Pennsylvania funding programs.
Professional Affiliations
- Appointed by Governor Tom Wolf and confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate to the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority Board
- Dauphin County Bar Association
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Pennsylvania Association of Bond Lawyers
- National Association of Bond Lawyers, Vice Chair of the Education Committee
Community Involvement
- Penn State Harrisburg Board of Advisers
- Anne B. Anstine Excellence in Public Service Series, Graduate
- Women in Public Finance, Mid-Atlantic (Ladies First) Chapter
Awards and Recognition:
- Received a 2021 & 2022 Best Lawyers: Ones To Watch recognition for Public Finance Law
- 2012 Frederic L. Ballard, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Recipient, National Association of Bond Lawyers
News and Insights
Media Coverage
- “Time to Prepare for New Municipal Securities Disclosures,” Law360, September 2018.
- “Municipal Borrowing – Good Planning, Policies, and Professionals are the Keys to Managing Debt,” PA Township News, August 2017.
News Releases
“Eckert Seamans Public Finance Practice Ranked Among 2022 Top Bond Counsel by The Bond Buyer,” February 2023.
Speaking Engagements
- “Understanding Financial Covenants in your Bond Documents,” presented at the LeadingAge PA Fall Conference, November 2023.
- “Creative Strategies for Funding Projects,” presented at the Cumberland County Association of Township Officials 2023 Annual Convention, October 2023.
- “Underwriter’s Counsel Updates,” presented at the Pennsylvania Association of Bond Lawyers 36th Annual Seminar, May 2023.
- “Creative Strategies for Funding Township Projects,” presented at the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors 2023 Annual Conference, April 2023.
- “Financing Authority Projects in 2023,” presented at the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association Management Workshops, April and May 2023.
- “How my Career Found Me,” co-panelist at the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association Women, Innovation, Networking (WIN) Conference, February 2023.
- “Closing Logistics” and “State Law Issues,” co-presented at the National Association of Bond Lawyers Essentials 2022 Virtual Conference, April 2022.
- “Structuring the Deal,” webinar presentation to the Council of Development Finance Agencies, August 2021.
- “Recent Developments in Issuer Disclosures for Public Offerings,” co-presented at the Pennsylvania Association of Bond Lawyers 34th Annual Meeting and Seminar, May 2021.
- “Reviewing the American Rescue Plan Act,” co-presented at the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs Virtual Seminar, May 2021.
- “State Law Issues” and “Conduit Issues and Issuers,” co-presented at the National Association of Bond Lawyers Essentials 2020 Virtual Conference, June 2020.
- “Managing Municipal Finances in Uncertain Times,” co-presented at the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs Virtual Seminar, May 2020.
- “Tax Increment Financing Legal & Practical Issues,” co-presented at the Pennsylvania Economic Development Association 2019 Fall Conference, October 2019.
- “Municipal Financing for Infrastructure,” co-presented at the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Commissioners Central Region Fall 2019 Meeting, September 2019.
- “County-Municipal Cooperation in Financing Capital Projects – PACE Legislation,” co-presented at the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania 2018 Annual Conference (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania), August 2018.
- “Internal Revenue Code of 1986: Incurring Tax-Exempt Debt” Co-Presented at the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania Fall Conference, November, 2015.
- “The SEC Disclosure Rule, MCDC Initiative and Future Compliance” Co-Presented at the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association 73rd Annual Conference and Trade Show, August, 2015.